Your brain stores millions of facts.
Sometimes you need to be prompted to remember
all of them. Try this game to release your hidden
knowledge.

Read quickly through this list of countries.

Ignore the ones you can easily answer,
and those you definitely can't answer.

Now concentrate on the ones that
are 'on the tip of your tongue', but you can't
answer.

What happens
if we give you the first letter of the capital
city? Does this jog your memory?

Roll the cursor over the country
name to find out.

Click on the
country to see the answer.

Did you feel your brain searching for
the correct answer? Once you'd seen the first letter,
did you suddenly remember the name of the capital city?

Your brain stores a phenomenal number
of memories - names, people, places, events and objects,
not to mention 15 000 words. When you can't remember
something, often the fact is in your memory, but you
can't get to it. Jogging your memory with a word or
a first letter can open the gates for you to access
a memory.

Trust your instincts

Often you'll have a 'gut feeling' of whether
you know something or not. Trust these instincts, experiments
show they're almost always right.

Recall versus recognition

It is much more difficult to recall a
correct answer from your memory than to pick out the
correct answer from a list (memory experts call this
recognition).
Try to answer question 1 below. Then try question 2,
which is easier?

1. What is the capital of Kenya?

2. What is the capital of Kenya?
a. Maputo
b. Nairobi
c. Asmara

The answer is Nairobi.
For both you needed to know the answer, but question
2 sparks your brain into remembering.